Gladiolus Bulb Gardening

Written by gardening

Monday, 08 October 2007

Information on gladiolus bulb garden. How to plant gladioli, when to plant them and how to get flowering all throughout the summer and autumn seasons.

Gladioli Bulb Gardening

I always pity the garden that cannot boast about its Gladioli. Probably more amateurs would grow them if not bewildered by there being early and late species, the culture for which is bound to vary slightly.

Plant early-flowering Gladioli in November, unless you can obtain them in October. Put the bulbs 5 inches deep and cover over the borders with any dry material to protect them. The soil should be deeply dug, made rich with decayed manure a foot beneath the surface, but of sandy loam of nice friable nature above this nourishment. Place a little sprinkling of sharp sand under every bulb. Mulch with old manure in early May ; horse-manure answers quite well for the Gladiolus. See that plants do not suffer from drought.

Pot early Gladioli from October to December, for succession, putting five bulbs in a six-inch pot. Sink pots in cinder-ashes in a cold frame, or in a cinder-bed made up against a wall facing south. In either case lay some chopped bracken-fern, heather, or straw, over the pots, and, if a frame is used, let there be cinders banked up round it, to keep frost from entering by the sides.

Watch for the first signs of growth, and draw the covering material gently away from it. When foliage is well advanced, take the pots into the sunny green house and begin to give water. The temperature may be from 45 to 65, but no more. Gladioli in pots will bloom without heat, in a room window even, and those out of doors should make a fine display during June. Or bulbs of early kinds can be kept in tins in a cold dry cellar till March or May and potted then for autumn use under glass.

Planting Gladiolus Bulbs

As the early and summer-flowering Gladioli, if combined, give colour and grace from May to July, and the autumn-flowering species are splendid from July to October, or even November, it is obvious what importance the Corn Flag is to both amateur and professional gardeners.

Plant the autumn Gladioli in March, April, or May 3 or 4 inches deep, and as much as a foot apart, in rich, sunny, well-drained beds or borders, placing half a handful of coarse sand under each bulb. Do not omit to put sticks to the plants when they are quite young, or the wind may lay them low. Give liquid manures liberally when flowers are forming. Lift the corms in October or November, and store in frames, rooms, or sheds.

Pot these large Gladioli in March and April for succession, i inch deep, one in each six-inch pot, or five in a ten-inch for a handsome group. Keep the pots in a cool place, and prevent the compost from drying up. When plants are growing put them into the greenhouse of moderate temperature, and feed generously as buds appear.

Beautiful Early and Summer-flowering Gladioli

GLADIOLUSCARDINALIS. Scarlet.
GLADIOLUS CARDINALIS ELE GANS. Scarlet, flaked with white.
GLADIOLUS DELICATISSIMA su PERBA. White, flaked with crimson.
GLADIOLUS THE BRIDE. Pure white.
GLADIOLUS TRISTIS. Cream white. Scented.
GLADIOLUS VINULUS. Ivory, with maroon blotch.
GLADIOLUS ROSY GEM. Cerise rose.
GLADIOLUS FIRE KING. Scarlet, flaked with pale and deep rose.
GLADIOLUS CRIMSON QUEEN. Bright crimson, flaked with white.
GLADIOLUS BUTTERFLY. Salmon, flaked with white.
GLADIOLUS LORD GREY. Pink, flaked with magenta.
GLADIOLUS MRS. G.W.WILLOCK. Blush white, with cerise mark ings.
GLADIOLUS PEACH BLOSSOM. Pale rose self.
GLADIOLUS ROSEA MACULATA. Orange-vermilion, flaked with white.
GLADIOLUS FLORIBUNDUS. White, and pale magenta.
GLADIOLUS COLVILLEI. Magenta purple, striped with white.
GLADIOLUS BLANDUS. Blush.
GLADIOLUS GENERAL SCOTT. Shell-pink, blotched with cream, and edged with scarlet.
HOODED GLADIOLUS. Primrose and coral.